Doffing means for the package wound on a strand winding machine

ABSTRACT

An attachment for a strand winding machine for automatically doffing a package wound thereon after first releasing the leading bound end of the package, severing the strand from the supply and then gripping the severed end for the initial winding of a subsequent package with means for sequentially operating the different steps.

United States Patent l 191 m1 3,908,918

Bergstrom Sept. 30, 1975 [54] DOFFING MEANS FOR THE PACKAGE 3.693.897 9/1972 Davidson 242/18 R WOUND ON A STRAND WINDING 3.762.661 lO/l973 Lucke 242/l8 R MACHINE OTHER PUBLICATIONS [76] Inventor: Gunnar A. Bergstrom, 248 Church Decker et Def. Of filed Ave., Warwick, R1 02889 5-70, Def. Pub. No. T896,O49.

Fllcd' 1974 Primary E.\'aminerStanley N. Gilreath [2]] Appl. No.: 461,933 Anorney, Agent, or FirnzBarlow & Barlow 52 us. Cl 242/18 R; 242/18 PW; 242/19; [57] ABSTRACT 242/41 An attachment for a strand winding machine for auto- 51] Int. (31. 8651-! 54/02; B65H 67/04 matically o fi g pac ge ound thereon after first [58] Field of Sear h 242/18 R, 18 DD 41 19 releasing the leading bound end of the package, sever- 242/18 PW ing the strand from the supply and then gripping the severed end for the initial winding of a subsequent [56] Refe en e Cit d package with means for sequentially operating the dif- UNITED STATES PATENTS ferem Steps' 2.165018 7/[939 Taylor 242/18'R 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 1 01 2 3,908,918

US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,908,918

DOFFING MEANS FOR THE PACKAGE WOUND ON A STRAND WINDING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Strand winding machines in the past have been semiautomatic with the result that manual operations take far more time to perform than the time needed to wind the strand into a package containing a predetermined length of strand. The most time consuming of the manual operation is that of threadingly attaching the leading end of the strand to the spindle or drum on which it is wound. Each end, and there are usually six in a normal machine grouping has to be threaded through an eye, a traverse guide and then in some way fastened to the spindle, drum or arbor on which it is to be wound. The machine runs a number of revolutions, depending upon the strand length which has been set, and then stops. Each end must then be individually cut, tied to the package and the package doffed from the drum, arbor or spindle by hand. Then the leading end of the yarn is tied to the arbor or drum for a new package, the operation starts over again. The general type of machine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,838,538 and 2,165,018. In some cases there has been in the past machines built which automatically doff and start the package over again, but this invention is for the machines which have not had automatic doffing and relates to the conversion to an automatic doffing and winding of strand packages until a supply of the strand material which is to be wound is exhausted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a strand winding machine, the strand is led from a supply usually through some tensioning means, then to a traverse and then to the spindle or drum upon which it is to be wound. The winding machine is equipped with a device for stopping the machine after a predetermined length of yarn is wound on the drum or spindle. Upon the stopping of the spindle or drum, the doffing attachment here shown comes into operation, a clutch releasing the snared end of the strand. Then, the mechanism, which carries the strand traverse and is weighted to swing the traverse close to the package. is swung away from the package. a strand severing and gripping device then being projected forward to engage and sever the strand between the traverse guide and the package and to grip the end of the strand which is to start a subsequent package. A plate which partially surrounds the drum or spindle at the supported end thereof, then advances to push the wound package off of the free end of the drum or spindle. The gripping means then retracts and draws the strand in the path of movement of a snaring device adjacent to the spindle or drum upon which the strand is to be wound so as to be held by this snaring device. The spindle or drum is then rotated to wind a package thereon. The cycle may be repeated for a subsequent package.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view looking at one side of the winder with certain of the essential parts of the doffing mechanism shown therein;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the other side of the machine showing the doffing plate and the drum or spindle upon which the strand is packaged;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the doffing mechanism with parts for release of the snared end of the strand omitted;

FIG. 4 is an elevation. partially broken away. of a 5 portion of the doffing mechanism showing the clutch for releasing the snared end of the strand;

FIG. 5 is an end view partly broken away of the strand snaring means which rotates with the drum or spindle;

0 FIG. 6 is a plan view partly broken away of the cutting and gripping device;

FIG. 7 is an end view of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE DEVICE Looking at FIG. 1, 10 designates a drum or spindle having a free end 11 and a supported end 12 and driven by a shaft 13 from some suitable mechanism housed in the casing 14 which contains an electric motor 75, a traverse cam and other suitable driving means (not shown) but refer to US, Pat. No. 1,838,538 and 2,165,018. The strand material 16 to be packaged is led from a supply through a counter 70, about some tensioning means 17, and then over a guide 18 to a traverse guide 19 where it is packaged as at 20 on the drum or spindle 10.

The packaging head here shown and above described is known as a Leesona No. 50 referred to in the patents above mentioned and is one of a plurality in sideby-side relation mounted upon a support shown partly at 21. There are rods and 26 extending over the top of these machines or heads tying them together, and it is upon frame 21 and these rods 25 and 26 that the doffing attachment is supported for making the doffing automatic.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 the drum or spindle 10 is recessed as at 28 and there is inserted therein an end member 29 which is mounted on drive shaft 13 for rotation and axial movement relative thereto and which has an arcuate resilient strand clamping wire 30 or snaring clamp means following the curvature of the member 29 for a short distance. One end of wire 30 is inserted into the member 29 at 31 where it is held by a screw 32 in the end face of the member 29. A ball 33 bridges the wire 30 and acts as a shield therefor. This wire 30 is bent outwardly as at 34 so as to leave a mouth, trap or snare 35 for the picking up of a strand of material which is in the path of movement of the portion 34 of the wire. The strand will wedge itself between the wire and the surface 36 of member 29 and be bound therein, the wire being somewhat resilient, thereby flexing to permit the strand to move under the wire and be clamped. A pin 37 is attached to the wire 30 and extends inwardly through a hole in the member 29 as seen more particularly in FIGS. 4 and 5 and is provided at its inner end with a head 38 which when engaged and forced outwardly, will move the wire 30 outwardly and release the strand material which is gripped between the wire and the surface 36 of the member 29.

A strand release member 40 having a groove 41 is tapered and is adapted to enter the recess 42 in the member 29 and engage the head 38 of the pin 37 so as to force the wire 30 outwardly and release a snared strand from beneath it. In order to operate this clamp release member 40, there is a lever 43 pivoted as at 44 on a bracket 45 fixed to the machine with its outer end portion 46 attached to a plunger 47 at an air cylinder 48 so that when this air cylinder is actuated to force its plunger 47 to the left as seen in FIG. 4, the clamp release 40 will enter the recess 42 and engage the pin 38 and move it outwardly to release the strand material which has entered the snare 35 and has been clamped between wire 30 and surface 36 of member 29. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the air cylinder 48 is mounted by means of a bracket 49 above the rods 25 and 26 so that its plunger 47 may be attached to the lever 43 to actuate clamp release 40.

The strand which is wound upon the spindle or drum 10 is slid off the free end 11, as seen in FIG. 2, by means of a plate 50 located just beyond the strand clamping portion 29 toward the free end of the drum and having an arcuate edge 51 to partly embrace the drum l and lie close to the surface of the drum. To one side of the axis of the drum, there is a plunger 52 secured to the plate as at 53 which is actuated by a motor, such as an air cylinder 54, to reciprocate the plunger parallel to the axis of the spindle or drum l0 and move the plate 50 axially of the drum. This motor is supported from the bars 25 and 26 of the machine by means of a bracket 55 having arms 56 and 57 to support the air motor and its plunger 52.

Another air motor 60 (FIG. 3) is also supported from the bars 25 and 26 by bracket 58, 59 (FIG. 1). The motor 60 has a plunger on the end of which is a bracket 61 reciprocated by the plunger of motor 60, and on this bracket there is supported a cutting and clamping device designated generally 62 which device is operated by a further air motor 63 axially aligned therewith.

The plunger 64 of this motor 63 has mounted on its end one leg of an L-shaped plate 65 with a boss 65 extending from the other leg of the plate through which boss a pin 66 extends. Strand grippers 67 are mounted on the pin between the boss 65 and a flange 68' fixed on the pin while cutters 68 are mounted on the other side of the flange. By this arrangement grippers 67 may be tensioned by spring 80 and nut 81 pulling the flange toward the boss, while cutters 68 may be tensioned by spring 82 and nut 83 forcing the cutters through a washer toward the flange 68. The cutters and grippers thus may be separately and individually tensioned as desired.

The L-shaped plate 65 has fingers 85 to engage the plate 87 to guide it in its reciprocating movement. The grippers 67 have arms 88 which enters slots in the side wall of their housing. As the plate 65' is moved forward. the arms 88 engage the ends of the slots and then the grippers pivot about this point of engagement toward each other to grip the strand. The pair of cutters 68 operate likewise.

This cutting and clamping device has two pairs of blades, one of which is sharpened and the other of which is blunt. As the air motor 60 advances the cutting mechanism, it crosses the path of the strand 16 between the traverse guide 19 and the drum to firmly engage the strand whereupon the motor 63 operates to have the two pair of blades come together, the pair of blades nearest the package severing the yarn and the other pair gripping the strand. After the strand is severed and the leading end for the next package held, the package 20 is doffed and the cutting and clamping mechanism 62 retracts by means of the motor 60 to draw the strand across the path of the strand snaring device where it is caught in the open mouth 35 (FIG. 5) and forced up between the wire 30 and the surface 36 of the member 29 so as to be held thereby as the spindle or drum starts to operate to wind another package. The swingable assembly which carries the traverse guide is weighted at 71 to swing the thread guide 19 close to the package 20. A bracket 72 is engaged by plunger 73 from air motor 74 which is mounted on frame 21 so as to swing the assembly and thread guide away from the package when the counter stops the motor 75. The assembly will swing thread guide 19 under influence of weight 71, toward the package when no air pressure is exerted on the piston of air motor 74.

Motors 48, 54 and 60 are effectively double acting so that their plungers remain in either one or two positions. As air motors, there will be two ports as well understood and as electric solenoids there will be suitable coils for the desired result. Motors 63 and 74 are spring return types, actuating the same moving their plungers.

The sequence of operations is such that when the counting device 70 which shows the amount of strand material which is passed from the supply to the package, reaches a predetermined point the machine will stop. Upon the stopping of the machine there will be actuation of motor 74 to swing the assembly carrying the traverse thread guide 19,away from the package and the cutting and clamping device will move forward to sever the yarn and hold one end thereof. The held end will be the leading end of the subsequent package. The yarn release will be actuated to move the cone 40 into a position to release the strand from the drum and then the doffing mechanism or plate will move forwardly to slide the strand package off of the spindle or drum. At this point the reciprocating motors for the doffing plate and the strand release will return to their rearward position, the traversing strand guide will swing toward the drum l0 and the cutting and clamping mechanism will also return to its initial position thereby placing the strand which extends from the traverse guide to the cuttingand clamping mechanism across the path of the mouth 35 of the snaring device so that the strand will be clamped in the snaring device for the starting of a new package. The spindle in the meantime is actuated to wind the yarn thereon.

The above is all automatic. Thus, when the machine is started, it will start winding; upon completion, doffing and again through the same cycle continuously until the supply is exhausted, whereupon other mechanism will stop the machine. The operations are controlled by a standard timing device which is readily available on the market for actuating the air motors in the sequence desired. Such a device may be a motor operated series of cams that actuate switches or is sometimes a resistance-capacitor timing device that operates a relay when a capacitor is charged to a certain voltage level.

I claim:

1. A doffing means for a strand winding machine having a driven package spindle supported at one end and free at the other end, a strand package measuring means for stopping said spindle at a. predetermined package size, and a strand traversing frame, that improvement which comprises means for swinging the strand traversing frame from the package spindle, strand cutting means and strand clamping means reciprocably mounted to move parallel to the axis of said spindle and between the frame and the package after the traversing frame is swung away from the package to engage the strand as lead from a supply source to the package spindle. means to operate said cutting and clamping means to cut and clamp the strand, releasable strand clamping means mounted on said spindle to rotate therewith, means to release said rotatable clamping means after stopping of the spindle, a plate adjacent the driven end of the spindle and reciprocably mounted to move parallel to the axis of the spindle and engage the strand package to slide it off the free end of the spindle, means to reciprocate said plate during stopping of the spindle, said rotatable clamping means clamping the leading end of the strand after the reciprocable clamping means retracts and the traversing frame is swung back adjacent the spindle.

2. A doffing means as in claim 1 wherein the rotatable strand clamping means on said spindle comprises a member having recess coaxial with the package spinmounted to move parallel to the axis of said spindle. 

1. A doffing means for a strand winding machine having a driven package spindle supported at one end and free at the other end, a strand package measuring means for stopping said spindle at a predetermined package size, and a strand traversing frame, that improvement which comprises means for swinging the strand traversing frame from the package spindle, strand cutting means and strand clamping means reciprocably mounted to move parallel to the axis of said spindle and between the frame and the package after the traversing frame is swung away from the package to engage the strand as lead from a supply source to the package spindle, means to operate said cutting and clamping means to cut and clamp the strand, releasable strand clamping means mounted on said spindle to rotate therewith, means to release said rotatable clamping means after stopping of the spindle, a plate adjacent the driven end of the spindle and reciprocably mounted to move parallel to the axis of the spindle and engage the strand package to slide it off the free end of the spindle, means to reciprocate said plate during stopping of the spindle, said rotatable clamping means clamping the leading end of the strand after the reciprocable clamping means retracts and the traversing frame is swung back adjacent the spindle.
 2. A doffing means as in claim 1 wherein the rotatable strand clamping means on said spindle comprises a member having recess coaxial with the package spindle, a strand clamp on its outer surface and means extending from said clamp to said recess, said releasable means including a member mounted for movement along the spindle axis into said recess to engage said means extending into said recess to release said strand clamp.
 3. A doffing means as in claim 1 wherein the cutter and clamp are independently and adjustably tensioned, including separate biasing means for independently and adjustably tensioning the reciprocable cutter and clamp.
 4. A doffing means as in claim 1 wherein the means to release the clamping means is reciprocatably mounted to move parallel to the axis of said spindle. 